Kildare children airlifted to hospital by Civil Defence aided Irish Coast Guard

A young child who was taken to hospital from Kildare last Saturday by helicopter was expected return home today.

Kildare Civil Defence Officer,  Patricia McNeela, confirmed to the Leinster Leader, that two children were taken to hospital from the Kilteel area by an Irish Coast Guard helicopter on Saturday morning.

A baby and and older child had to be taken to hospital. Ms McNeela said there was no access to the area for the ambulance.

One child lived closer to the village but the other was in  the Cromwellstown area of Kilteel.

She said that Civil Defence managed to get within two kilometres of the child  on foot but opted not to bring a baby two kilometres back by foot.

She said that Dublin Civil Defence would be providing Kildare Civil Defence with special vehicles on tracks, called hagglunds, to clear snow in the Kilteel area.

The Dublin CD uses them in the Dublin mountain areas and they have been busy tonight.

In addition to the airlift, Kildare Civil Defence  helped the ambulance service in Kilcock and also aided in the transportation of a dialysis patient for treatment. They transported patients to Naas and Tallaght Hospital and took nurses and doctors to and from Naas Hospital, among others things.

Cllr Padraig McEvoy said that over the weekend snow ploughs available to the County Council were getting stuck because the snow was so high and private operators were called in by the Council.

In Clane local contractors,  Denis O’Connell and Phillip McCormack, were involved.

He also said that in Clane and some other places some snow clearing work was hampered by car drivers who themselves got stuck in the snow.

Cllr McEvoy said some people were unhappy and abusive over the conditions and the time it took for help to arrive. But he said that the Council priority was to get public transport moving, to enable food deliveries to be made and facilitate emergency services.